GSG 1911 .22lr range report

Yesterday I was in my local shop and saw, for the first time, the GSG 1911. I asked to see it, put it in my hand, said I would buy it, then asked how much ($334). The reason was twofold; I had heard good things about it, and it simply felt "right', just like my S&W 1911.

I love .22lr pistols and revolvers, and have owned many dozens over the years. I am also very quick to rid myself of poor performing or inaccurate ones. The three I currently own are a S&W 41, S&W 617 and a Ruger 22/45.

I have been looking for a 1911 .22 or .22 conversion; I am not a great shot with the 1911 and am looking for a way to get more practice without the expense.

The GSG 1911 is everything I have been looking for; the weight is very close to a full size 1911, it has great sights, the trigger is very good (mine 4.5lbs), the magazines are heavy and therefore drop out exactly as they do on all 1911's, making tactical drill training entirely possible. It also feels right, just as JMB designed it to be.

I went to the range today and put 250 rounds through the pistol, 160 CCI Mini Mags and the remainder Federal bulk. Before firing the first round I fully diassembled the pistol, cleaned and thoroughly lubed it. You will need to read the instructions the first time you take it apart; it is very similar to the 1911 but there is enough difference (a screw and a take down pin) that you'll want to follow the book. No big deal.

The pistol performed perfectly; absolutely no failures of any kind. It has a nice little recoil flip, which I like alot. Running through drills was great; the mags just drop right out. The bolt holds open after the last round, exactly as a 1911 does.

Accuracy was good, though I didn't put it in a rest. I was keeping 3-4" at 17 yards, which is about as good as I can do with a 1911 (and my not so good anymore eyes). Two of the instructors at my club, both of whom compete with 1911's, halved my spread, so I think the accuracy is pretty good.

I am delighted with the GSG 1911. From all angles except the bore, this is a 1911; it feels and looks terrific. Most imporatntly, it is great fun to shoot. This ones a keeper.

I picked one of these up a few months ago, and have been a little less satisfied.

I get FTEject every 100 rounds or so. FTFeed every 20 rounds or so.

And (lately) FTFire every FIVE rounds. lol. When i inspect the failed round, there's a visually noticeable denting along the rim, so I'm pretty sure the gun is doing its job (though this is my first .22, so i don't know how *much* it should be bent).
For now I'm blaming the ammo. I've been using only Winchester, so next trip to the store I'm going out of my way to get some different brands to make sure it really is the ammo.

If new ammo doesn't solve the fail-to-fire, i'm getting rid of this like a hot potato.

Otherwise I can live with the occasional FTE and FTFeed issues and will hold on to this gun.

I really love the feel of it. The sights are great, and it's definitely a fun gun to shoot.

phrogpilot

September 18, 2010, 10:53 PM

I too would try new ammo. If that doesn't work, send back to ATI in Rochester, NY (the importer). I also have their MP9 clone in .22lr and had a problem with it; they had it back in three weeks fixed perfectly. They're a good outfit from what I can tell. Sorry to hear of your problem,

mstrat

September 22, 2010, 09:26 PM

I put about 100 rounds of Remington through it tonight, and had far fewer failures-to-fire. Still a handful (maybe 6 or 7).
And only a few fail to feed.

So the Winchester White was definitely causing some of the issue, though the pistol seems a little more finnicky than it should be. But now it's just a minor inconvenience, rather than painful.

I may send it back to ATI, but I don't want to be without this baby for a while ;) I *really* love this pistol - it's a blast to shoot.

Feels great, shoots more accurately than me (up to 25yds, as far as my ranges go), and it's.... a 1911 platform. :)

Seriously fun 22.

p.s. Sorry I hope I didn't hijack this thread or anything. Just haven't run across others with this gun, so wanted to bounce my experience off on somebody. And leave a second opinion for anyone who stumbles upon it.

bigfatdave

September 22, 2010, 11:06 PM

If I had such a gun (and I will as soon as someone comes out with an officer's size version) and it ran well on one ammo and poorly on another ...
Well, then I'd have a malfunction trainer set up for TRB drills, wouldn't I?

Guns and more

September 23, 2010, 01:18 PM

I put about 100 rounds of Remington through it tonight
Remington rimfire usually gets very bad reviews. Lots of duds, and dirty.
I have the GSG-5, and have the best luck with CCI Mini Mags.

Check out the ATI forum:
22tactical.com

Jbmoney21

September 23, 2010, 01:55 PM

I picked one of these up a few months ago, and have been a little less satisfied.

I get FTEject every 100 rounds or so. FTFeed every 20 rounds or so.

And (lately) FTFire every FIVE rounds. lol. When i inspect the failed round, there's a visually noticeable denting along the rim, so I'm pretty sure the gun is doing its job (though this is my first .22, so i don't know how *much* it should be bent).
For now I'm blaming the ammo. I've been using only Winchester, so next trip to the store I'm going out of my way to get some different brands to make sure it really is the ammo.

If new ammo doesn't solve the fail-to-fire, i'm getting rid of this like a hot potato.

Otherwise I can live with the occasional FTE and FTFeed issues and will hold on to this gun.

I really love the feel of it. The sights are great, and it's definitely a fun gun to shoot.
I had a problem with the Winchester white box yesterday with me GSG 1911. Its the first ammo I have had problems with. Mostly FTF. I havent had one single problem out of the federal target bulk box and mini mags. That winchster is just junk, its also extremely dirty

mstrat

September 23, 2010, 02:14 PM

Yea, both Winchester and Remington have been problematic for me (the latter not as much).

But never had issues with CCI mini mag - albeit i only put 100 rounds of that through it, and only when i first fired it.

Too bad I have thousands of WW and Remington rounds sitting around.
CCI is comparatively really expensive, and I never see Federal anywhere. And I live in a fascist state where I can't have it sent to my house (via online/phone sales).

Oh well. I think I'll just deal with the occasional Remington issues, and maybe swallow the cost and buy 100 rd boxes of mini mag from time to time.

mstrat

September 23, 2010, 02:17 PM

On a side note (again, tell me to take this elsewhere if this is hijacking the thread)...

When I went to clean it last night, I noticed the rubber washer (is that a recoil buffer? none of my other pistols have it) on the recoil spring guide rod is tattered and pulling off around the edges where it's not covered up by the metal washer.

I just peeled the outer edge off, now it's only slightly larger than the metal washer.

Can I just replace this with a similar sized rubber washer from a hardware store? Or will the heat mess it up?
Or can i just use it with only the metal washer between the spring and guide rod base?

DukeNukem

September 23, 2010, 05:06 PM

mstrat On a side note (again, tell me to take this elsewhere if this is hijacking the thread)...

When I went to clean it last night, I noticed the rubber washer (is that a recoil buffer? none of my other pistols have it) on the recoil spring guide rod is tattered and pulling off around the edges where it's not covered up by the metal washer.

I just peeled the outer edge off, now it's only slightly larger than the metal washer.

Can I just replace this with a similar sized rubber washer from a hardware store? Or will the heat mess it up?
Or can i just use it with only the metal washer between the spring and guide rod base?

The rubber washer on mine was in that kind of shape by about 2500 rounds.

I tried replacing it with some neoprene washers from Lowe's. They were thinner than the original. I tried using one and doubling up with two(which was thicker than the original.) They may have also been a little softer than the original. For whatever reason, my GSG didn't function as well with the neoprene washers.

I ended up using a 3/8"(5/8" OD) faucet washer sanded down to about 2/3 of its thickness, and my GSG is back to its near flawless self with that. I've got about 2000 more rounds through the pistol since then, and the faucet washer is showing no significant wear. The heat doesn't seem to be bothering it at all. Cheap, easy fix.

mstrat

September 23, 2010, 11:24 PM

Great info DukeNukem, thanks. If anyone were to make a GSG1911 info page, or FAQ, you should put that at the top of the list.

I stopped by the hardware store tonight - they didn't have any 3/8, but I got some 3/8M (21/32), which are *slightly* wider. It seems ok in the gun when working the action, but I think just to be safe i'll just hook it up to the dremel and shave a little off the edge.

I was worried I'd have to give this gun a rest while waiting on a shipment.
Great quick, cheap, and easy solution. Thanks again.

DukeNukem

September 24, 2010, 03:25 AM

A couple more things to watch out for with this pistol:

Be careful with the barrel fixing screw. It's a steel screw, but it's still easy to strip out the head of that screw, so don't overtighten it. Using blue Loctite on it is a good idea if it's loosening up from shooting.

Don't be surprised if the barrel bushing breaks on the GSG1911. Mine did. I'm not sure what the bushing is made out of, but it's not steel. If it breaks, most likely your plug and spring are going to fly out of the end of the gun. Mine didn't fly far, and I was able to find them without difficulty, but it wouldn't be hard to lose them. ATI is replacing that bushing with a steel one as a warranty repair. They may even be sending them to owners who just contact ATI and ask for one even before it breaks(but I'm not sure about that.) Don't know if the newer GSG1911's have a steel one as an original part, but I wouldn't be surprised. Might be worth checking it with a magnet.

I haven't dealt with ATI; I just put a used steel 1911 barrel bushing on mine after it broke(and used a screw I found locally to replace the stripped out barrel fixing screw). From what I hear, ATI customer service is superb.

So...a few minor problems, but it's a great pistol. Even knowing about the problems, I'd buy it again without hesitation.

DukeNukem

September 24, 2010, 04:07 AM

About ammo, mine has been very reliable with just about everything I've tried in it(probably about 15 kinds.) I mainly use Federal bulk, either the 550 pack from Walmart or the Champion pack from Cabela's. Mine did not like Federal Lightning. I haven't shot Winchester white box, but mine does fine with the Winchester 333/555 bulk stuff. I've tried 3 or 4 kinds of Remington ammo (including Golden Bullet bulk which functioned fine except for more duds than the other bulk ammos I've used.) Remington Thunderbolt did not work well in mine. You might give CCI Blazer a try if you can find it. That's another bulk ammo that works very well in my GSG.